The feast which we will be considering today reflects somewhat the Portuguese character. One needs only consider the saint’s name in the missal. While the Roman Missal says Anthony of Padua, the Bragan jealously insists on the great saint’s Portuguese provenance, ignoring the Church’s tradition of “naming” saints after the place where they fell asleep in the Lord. To this day, a sure-fire way to discover if someone is of Portuguese origin is to ask them St. Anthony’s name.

St. Anthony was proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Pius XII in 1946. Consequently, his Mass, which was that of a Confessor, was changed to that of Doctor. In the Bragan, however, the saint’s was already that of a doctor (though the collect refers to him as a Confessor)!

St.Anthony, by El Greco

The Bragan Common of a Doctor varies somewhat from its Roman counterpart, but even St. Anthony’s Mass varies from that of a Doctor. We will delve into the Commune Doctorum on another occasion, however. In spite of the differences between the Bragan and the 1962 Missals, the Bragan propers can be found within the Roman Missal, under Masses for certain places. For your convenience, we shall list the differences.